Rs. 42 million - The real cost of your child's education

Parents

oi-Vidhya Shree

By Mahesh Peri

Updated: Thursday, August 17, 2017, 15:32 [IST]

Are you planning for your child's education? If your 3 year baby is getting into a play school in 2015 (which has become necessary for admission in schools), you will be spending close to Rs. 42 million on education alone. This is when he/she will study in government funded/aided schools and colleges. The fees component alone is Rs. 31 million and another 11 million would be incidental costs (transportation, books etc.) on education alone. To know how, read on.

The ROI for investment in a student in India is abysmal. As a prudent financial practice, it is no longer viable to fund your education with loans. Successful examples are like a lottery with odds of better ROI heavily loaded against you. Costs of education have galloped to catch up with west while the output measured as salaries, employability and knowledge haven't kept pace. Most MBAs are placed at a salary of less than 4 lacs (if at all they are placed). Three quarters of engineers don't get a job after passing out.

So, in pure arithmetic terms, are you better off saving that money and handing over a fixed deposit to your child after 22 years? Imagine a Rs. 42 Million FD to secure your child's future. In the interim, he can study in a good government school (as many of us did), understand real world, devoid of protection and enjoys his childhood and maybe pursue dreams and his passion instead of competing in the rat race.

Does it make sense? No tensions of marks, grades, courses, coaching, tuition, placements, interviews. Live your childhood, get tougher, pursue your dreams and save close to Rs. 42 million. IMAGINE.

The major assumptions are:

Return on capital employed is assumed at 11%.

School Fees for past years is actuals. For 2015, it is as of today.

The fees are of a school built on government grants and where fees is decided by parents and school together. Pure private education is 100% more.

For higher education, the fees are twice of what they are today in IITs and IIMs; that means doubling in 15 years and good Private engineering colleges fees are typically 2.5 times of IITs.

The period of education from pre-school to PG is assumed as 21 years + one year for job placement.

A fees inflation of 7% is assumed. In reality, it is more than 10%.

Other costs are assumed at 35% of fees (transportation, books other fees etc). In many places, the other costs are as much as the total fees (100%).

Tuition assumed for 3 years only of the 22 years. No coaching is assumed for UG entry while one year coaching is assumed for PG admission tests (CAT etc). Many students have tuitions through the life cycle. And most students go through coaching at UG level too.

Now decide. The financial planner in me has a definite reply, but the parent in me is uncertain. How about you?

Number

Year

Investment (INR)

Future Value (INR)

Description

1

2015

140,000

1,390,700

Play School

2

2016

149,800

1,340,585

Nursery

3

2017

160,286

1,292,276

Prep

4

2018

171,506

1,245,707

1st Class

5

2019

183,511

1,200,817

2nd Class

6

2020

196,357

1,157,544

3rd Class

7

2021

210,102

1,115,831

4th Class

8

2022

224,809

1,075,621

5th Class

9

2023

240,546

1,036,860

6th Class

10

2024

257,384

999,495

7th Class

11

2025

275,401

963,477

8th Class

12

2026

294,679

928,758

9th Class

13

2027

565,307

1,605,144

10th Class + Tuitions

14

2028

904,878

2,314,712

11th Class + Tuitions

15

2029

1,318,220

3,037,887

12th Class + Tuitions

16

2030

600,000

1,245,696

Engineering

17

2031

700,000

1,309,290

Engineering

18

2032

800,000

1,348,047

Engineering

19

2033

1,400,000

2,125,299

Engineering + Coaching

20

2034

1,500,000

2,051,447

MBA

21

2035

1,500,000

1,848,150

MBA

22

2036

300,000

333,000

Job Placement

Total

12,092,788

30,966,342

In the next 22 years, with the interest of 0.11% and with an approximate inflation of 7% the future value of the total investment will be Rs. 41,804,561 (Rs. 42 million). Hence, this is the amount you may have to invest in your child's education.

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